This invention relates to firearms, and is especially suited to firearms of the automatically-operating type.
The recognition of firearms as a practicable form of weapon marked the advent of a search for a firearm exhibiting optimum efficiency and effectiveness. Despite the continued improvements being made in this field, there are numerous problems which have persisted and still plague the designers to this day.
Ranking high among these problems is, for example, recoil which occurs upon firing. That is, detonation of a charge within the firearm produces a forward propelling thrust on the projectile and a rearward reactive force, or recoil, which must be withstood by the shooter. Efforts have been made to counter the effects of recoil. Exemplary of such attempts is the Green U.S. Pat. No. 2,128,243, issued Aug. 30, 1938. In this proposal, gases expelled from the barrel are to be directed against inclined baffle surfaces affixed to the muzzle end of the firearm. It is intended that these gases should impart a forward thrust to the baffle, and thus to the firearm as a whole, in an effort to counteract detonation recoil. Whatever advantages such a baffle might produce, the magnitude of the forward anti-recoil forces which can be produced thereby is limited due to the inclined nature of the baffle surfaces. Furthermore, these inclined surfaces deflect the combustion gases from the firearm in an almost radial direction relative to the barrel bore. During automatic, rapid-fire operation of a firearm, such a gas discharge can obscure the shooter's vision and possibly cause him physical discomfort.
Another persistant problem concerns firearms of the automatic-type in which various operations, such as ejection, re-loading, and re-cocking, must be automatically mechanically accomplished preparatory to firing a succeeding round. It has been suggested to direct a portion of the combustion gases from the barrel to a chamber to reciprocate a piston reciprocally mounted therein. The piston would be suitably coupled to perform at least some of these operations. The Scotti U.S. Pat. No. 1,925,776, issued Sept. 5, 1933, is exemplary of such a proposal. An inherent problem associated with the use of an enclosed, gas-actuated piston is the necessity of maintaining the gas-conducting lines and the piston chamber free of gas residues which might obstruct proper functioning of the mechanism.
Other significant problems associated with firearms, particularly automatic firearms, relate to the use of ammunition rounds which comprise an assemblage of a projectile, a charge of propellent, and a non-consumable casing carrying both components. It is necessary to orient each round in a special posture and actuate both an obturation bolt and a firing pin in proper sequence before detonation can occur. Ejection of the spent casing is necessitated to accomodate insertion of a new cartridge. Moreover, in an automatic firearm, these operations must occur rapidly, thereby necessitating expensive, complicated, and rather "temperamental" mechanisms. Proposals have been made in an attempt to alleviate some of these problems, one proposal involving the use of rounds which are caseless. Even in such an instance the propellant and projectile components of the round are intended to be connected in tandem and thus will still be of a size requiring that the loading mechanism be shifted a sufficient distance to accomodate insertion of a new round. This requires the transmittal of significant amounts of energy and limits the cyclic rate of operation of the firearm.
A very serious proposal in this area has recently been made by the present inventor in U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,867, issued Feb. 15, 1973. This proposal involves a unique concept wherein the projectile and the propellent are independent and separate. The propellent is in the form of a combustible pellet-like cartridge which is compressed and detonated within a detonation chamber by a reciprocal bolt. The detonation chamber communicates with a bore carrying the projectile such that combustion gases are effectively exerted against the projectile. An effective form of cartridge which is especially suited for use in such a firearm is disclosed and described in the inventor's pending U.S. application Ser. No. 324,669, filed Jan. 18, 1973, and having matured into U.S. Pat. No. 3,828,676, issued Aug. 13, 1974. The proposals introduced by the inventor constitute significant strides in the evolution of an ideal firearm in that they feature the elimination of an ejection stage, reduction of recoil, the use of less expensive ammunition, and an increase in the cyclic rate of operation, among other advantages. Not withstanding such advancements, there remains further room for improvement in optimizing the over-all performance of firearms.
It is therefore, a general object of the invention to provide a novel firearm which obviates or minimizes problems of the sort previously noted.
It is another general object of the invention to provide a firearm which presents minimum physical irritation and interference to a shooter.
It is particular object of the present invention to provide a novel firearm which minimizes recoil effects.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel firearm which simplifies the detonation stage.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an automatic firearm which facilitates the performance of the loading, obturating, firing, and cocking stages.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an automatic firearm in which gas-residue build-ups are minimized.